Android Will Now Be Updated To Automatically Send Accurate Location To 999 Operators

Google, the search engine giant is aiming to help people have some ease in their lives and therefore the company has decided to push an update which will automatically send your location to aid emergency service providers. As you may all know, upon calling 999, you are requested by the operators to notify them of your current location before they can dispatch the required assistance. It is rather difficult to notify the operators about your location especially if you are unfamiliar with your surroundings. However, with this new Android update, the entire portion of guesswork involved in identifying your location will be sorted out. This new update is known as the Emergency Location Service and will be using information provided through available Wi-Fi connections, phone’s GPS system and mobile masts to exactly pinpoint your location. Further, this information will be automatically shared with the operator during your conversation with them.

The tech giant shared this news through their blog post and in order to remove any shred of doubts from the minds of the consumers, the company elaborated their working mechanism. Google stated that their company is not in the business of collection location data of their consumers and the new feature is pushed in the interest of public safety and to aid emergency service providers. Further, Google also elaborated that the information will only be transmitted if and when you make an emergency call; the call could either be to an operator of the emergency services or to your mobile network operators. The best part about this update is that the major service providers that is, EE, Three, O2, Vodafone and BT have all agreed to the terms laid out by Google at the launch of this application.

Since the feature is enabled through a Google Play Services update, most of the Android devices (nearly 99%) are more than capable of supporting this Emergency Location Service update. The prerequisite for the update is Android 2.3 and up. The update is already live in various territories including the UK and Estonia, however, Google stated in its blog post that the company is in active communication with other countries and their operators in order to increase its availability and encompass a broader user base.